Anticreeper



Patented Nov. 14, 1933 UNITEDQSTATES PATENT OFFICE- ANTICREEBER' 7 I r 7George Hunt, Baltimore, Md., Application February 1, 1932. Serial No.590,224

10 Claims. (01. 238-330) 'This invention relates to improvements inanti-creepers for preventing longitudinalv movement of a railroad railupon the ties.

One of the features of the present invention is an anti-creeper whichmay be made of sheet metal from askelp, without loss of material.

Another feature of the present invention is an anti-creeper which has abiting engagement with the base of the rail, preferably at pointsremoved from the edge thereof, and is elastically Supported inengagement with the rail by portions which engage with the topof therail base. v I

Ajfurther feature of the present invention is the provision of ananti-creeper. having points of engagement with the rail which are spacedfrom one another in the longitudinal directioni of the rail, and whichoperate during transportmovements of they railand creeper to -cause areturn of the rail to its former position, and in some instances to aposition beyond its former position.

A particularfeature of the present invention is the provision of acheaply and simply constructed anti-creeper which may be quickly "andeasily applied to a rail, and removed therefrom With these and other--objects in view as will appear in the course of the followingspecificae tion and claims, an illustrative form of construction of theanti-creeper is shown in the accom panying drawing, inwhich:. v l 4Figure 1 is a plan view of the manner of cutting blanks for theanti-creeper from askelp offuniform width. W, V

Figure 2 is a similar view, on'a. larger scale, of one blank, with theengaging tongues punched therefrom. 7

Figure 3 is a vertical section through-a rail, .with the anti-creeperapplied thereto Figure 4 is a side view of a the same, showing theengagement/with a tie.

Figure 5 is a viewsimilarto Figure 3, but on a smaller scale, showing amanner of placing the anti-creeper in position on a rail. i

Inthe drawing, Figure 1 shows that ,a skelp of uniform width and of thedesired thickness may be cut into a plurality of alternately are rangedand overlapping T-shaped blanks. withoutloss. :1

In Figure 2 the blank is shownto have atop member 10 of the T:.=withabottom member 11. On the top member have been formed byrpunching fromthe body of the material the three upstanding biting tongues 12, 13, 14,which have the cross sectional shape indicated in Figure 4;.so thattheir upper edges are relativelysharp. and tend to-engage in'thebody ofand against any roughbody 10.

nesses of the rail base, and project upwardly against the bottom of therail base when in operative position.

The blank shown in Figure 2 is then formed by bending the left hand endupwardly and inwardly, (Fig.- 5) so that its finger 15 can overlie theuppersurface of therail base adjacent the edge thereof, while the otherend 16 is bentupwardly and then provided with a new knuckle providing abearing surface 20 above which, is an inclined camming surface 21. Thedownwardly extending member 11 of the blank (Fig. 2) is bent downwardlythrough an angle of substantially (Fig. 4)', r I

The material of the skelp is preferably a carbon steel so thattheanti-creeper may be hardened, if desired, to provide a, proper temper tothebitingtongues and togive a properelastic yield and resiliency to themain portion of the The structure is assembled upon a rail by engagingthe end; finger 15 over one side of the rail, and then rocking thedevice, against its resiliency,

untilthe-surface 20 snapsinto position on top of the rail base at itsother edge. In Figure 5 is shown a tool foremployment for this purpose,al-

though it will be understood that the use of such a toolis not.essential. This tool has a hook 30 for engaging over the rail head, andprovided with an arm 31 having apivotal connection 32 to a lever 33havinga handle 34 at its outer end and a press member 35 at its innerend. The arm 31 has'a stop or abutment 36 for engagement with the railbase. By slipping the anti-creeper over one edge of the rail base andengaging the lever therewith, as shown in' Figure 5, the downwardmovement of the handle 34 causes the upward movement of the right handend of the anti-creeper, where with the surface 21operates inconjunction with the edge of the rail base to cause a relative outwardswinging'movement of the end 16 until the shoulder surface 20 engages inthe position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, in which for comparison thedotted lines are intended to show the position of the parts when notthus elastically engaged.

lationship of the parts is clearly shown in the side elevational view ofFigure 4.

In placing the device on a rail, it is located in the usual manneradjacent a tie, and after being placed may be driven along the rail baseuntil its bottom member 11 bears against a tie (Fig. 4). During suchmovement longitudinally along the rail, the biting tongues slip freely.In a position of the part shown in Figure 4 it is assumed that thetraffic is moving from right to left, or that the right hand end isuphill.

As the rail tends to move from right to left under such conditions, itcarries by engagement therewith the biting tongues, while the deviceengages with the tie; This engagement with the tie causes an elasticcompression between the bot tom member 11 and the body 10, so that thebottom member 11 moves toward a right angle position, possiblyaccompanied by a rocking of the device about one edge of the finger 15and the shoulder 20, with a fulcrum about the biting fin gers 12, 14,for example. Hence, the spring strain in the anti-creeper increases, andby the increasing angle of presentation, these biting fingers tend toresist the rail movement, and upon the cessation of such movement, theanti-creeper operates to return the rail to its former position, duringwhich return movement the biting tongue 13 comes into operation at apoint which will usually be, in the construction shown, relativelytoward the left from the position which it left when the device began torock. The device continues its expansion under the resilient effortstored up between the bottom member 11 and the body member 10, and hencethe anti-creeper operates to move the rail against the direction oftraffic, or to build up a greater and greater resilient resistance tothe movement of the rail in the direction of trafiic.

Since the tongues have a resilient effect with respect to the body 10,their biting edges may move upward and downward and thus yield, alongwith the resilient effects referred to above, whereby to accommodate thedevice to rails which are oversize or undersize, so that the device isalways in engagement with the rail when normally applied thereto. Duringthe rocking movement, further, while the rail is pushing toward the tieand the structure is rocking in a counter-clockwise direction in Figure4, which is also opposed in part by a resilient torsional movement ofthe body, the tongues 12, 14 are pressed resiliently downward toward thebody member 10, and therewith the body member 10 is moved further towardthe left in Figure 4, since the tongues 12,14 make a movement relativelyto the right with re-' spect to the body portion 10 during thisresilient bending thereof. At the same time, the tongue 13 is relievedof some of itspressure and may assume a greater angle with respect tothe body 10, and as it swings upward and toward the left with respectto'the body portion 10, it tends to move along the base of the rail, sothat an actual ratcheting effect may occur to restore the rail to itsformer position and to assure a tight engagement of the device with thetie at all times.

From Figures 3 and 4 it will be noted that the operation of placing thedevice upon the rail causes a resilient downward movement of the body 10from the position shown by dotted lines into that shown with someexaggeration by the full lines. This yield is, however, substantiallyconfined on the edge adjacent the tie by reason of the reinforcingeffect of the depending bottom member 11, so that substantially equalstrains are offered at the positions of the three tongues 12, 13, 14. Inparticular the center tongue 13 is preferably located closely adjacentthe bottom member 11 for this purpose.

It will be understood that many changes may be made in the constructionof the device, and in its employment, without departing from the scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is: Y

1. An anti-creeper comprising a body portion adapted to extendtransversely beneath the rail in spaced relationship therewith, anupstanding and rebent portion joined at one end of said body portion toengage over the rail base at one side of the rail, a second upstandingportion at the other end of said body terminating in an upwardly andoutwardly inclined cam surface and a shoulder at the lower end of saidsurface for engaging over the rail base at the other side of the'rail, adepending tie engaging portionv joined to said body between its ends,and a plurality of laterally spaced tongues extending upward from saidbody and directed away from said depending portion for engaging thebottom of the rail at points spaced longitudinally of the rail from saiddepending portion and from one another. 2. An anti-creeper comprising abody portion adapted to extend transversely beneath the rail in spacedrelationship therewith, an upstanding and rebent portion joined at oneend of said body portion to engage over the rail base at one side oftherail, a second upstanding portion at the other end of said bodyterminating in an upwardly and outwardly inclined cam surface and ashoulder at the lower end of said surface for engaging over the railbase at the other side of the rail, a depending tie engaging portionjoined to said body between its ends, anda plurality oflongitudinally'spaced tongues extending upward from said body anddirected away from said depending portion for engaging the bottom of therail, all of said tongues being spaced longitudinally of the rail fromsaid tie engaging por-' tion;

3. An anti-creeper comprising a body portion adapted to extendtransversely beneath the rail in spaced relationship therewith, anupstanding and rebent portion joined at one end of said body portion toengage over the rail base at one side of the rail, a second upstandingportion at the other end of said body terminating in an upwardly andoutwardly inclined cam surface and a shoulder at the'lower end of saidsurface for engaging over the rail base at the other side of the rail, adepending tie engaging portion joined to said body between its ends, afirst tongue extending upwardly from said body, and a second tongueextending upwardly from said body and spaced laterally andlongitudinally from said first tongue, said tongues being directed awayfrom-said depending portion for engaging the bottom of the rail.

4. An anti-creeper comprising a body portion adapted to extendtransversely beneath the rail in spaced relationship therewith, anupstanding and rebent portion joined at one endof said body portion toengage over the" rail base at one side of the rail, a second upstandingportion at the other end of said body terminating in an upwardly andoutwardly inclined cam surface and a shoulder at the lower end of saidsurface for engaging over the rail base at the other side of the rail, adepending tie engaging portion joined to said body between its' ends, afirst tongue extending upwardly from said body adjacent said dependingportion for engaging the bottom of the rail at a point spacedlongitudinally of the rail from said depending portion, and a secondtongue spaced laterally from said first tongueand at a greater distancefrom said depending portion than said first tongue and extendingupwardly from said body, said tongues being directed away from saiddepending portion for engaging the bottom of the rail. y

5. A semi-formed blank for an integral anticreeper comprising a singlepiece or" metal of substantially uniform thickness and of T-shape,having three tongues upstanding at an angle therefrom and located in theupper portion of the T and spaced from one another in the direction ofsaid upper portion, one of said tongues being closer to the bottomportion of the T than another of said tongues.

6. An integral anti-creeper comprising two up wardly directed endportions each having inward projections for engaging over a rail base atopposite sides of the rail, a resilient body portion for connecting saidend portions to hold them in position upon the rail, tie-engaging meanson said body portion, and rail-engaging members extending angularlyupward from the body portion and away from said tie-engaging means forcontacting the bottom of the rail at points spaced transversely andlongitudinally with respect to one another and spaced from thetransversely extending edges of said body portion, said body portionbeing held by said end portions against downward yielding at the sidesof the rail and operating by its resiliency to press said mem bersagainst said rail.

7. An integral anti-creeper comprisingtwo upwardly directed end portionseach having inward projections for engaging over a rail base at oppositesides of the rail, a resilient substantially flat and horizontallydisposed bar for connecting said end portions to hold them in positionupon the rail and yieldable beneath the rail relative to said endportions by movement toward and from the bottom of the railsubstantially in a transverse upright plane and including a tieengagingportion, and at least one resilient rail engaging member upstandingangularly from said bar.

8. An anti-creeper as in claim '7, in which the member is intermediatethe width of said bar.

9. An anti-creeper comprising a substantially flat and horizontallydisposed body for extending transversely beneath a rail, upwardlydirected portions from said body each having inward projections forengaging over the rail base at 0pposite sides of the rail and extendingbetween longitudinally spaced upright transverse planes,

a tie-engaging portion located intermediate the width of the railoutside the space between said planes for causing a resilient movementof the body upon movement of the rail toward the tie, and arail-engaging member directed upwardly away from said tie-engagingportion and located between said planes.

10. An anti-creeper comprising a substantially flat and horizontallydisposed body for extending transversely beneath a rail, upwardlydirected portions each having inward projections for engaging over therail base at opposite sides of the rail and extending betweenlongitudinally spaced upright transverse planes, a tie-engaging portionlocated intermediate the width of the rail, and a plurality ofrail-engaging members each directed upwardly away from said tie-engagingGEORGE W. HUNT.

